Monocle magazine is putting audio, accompanied by native advertising, at the heart of its digital publishing plan.

Podcasting has never been more popular than it is today, bolstered in part by breakthrough hits like “Serial.” Now, publishers everywhere are attempting to capitalize on the medium’s momentum. But few so far have made quite the audio investment that Monocle magazine has.

Founded in 2007 in London as a lifestyle magazine covering global affairs, business and high culture for the affluent, Monocle’s print edition sells over 70,000 copies per issue across English-speaking markets. It has chosen a rather different tack when it comes to digital. Rather than engaging in the high-metabolism Web-publishing game or attempting to monetize via display, it locks its magazine content behind a paywall. Instead, its biggest digital investment is in digital radio.

“Audio has been huge for us. It’s a very personal medium in a tone that works well with our mission. We’re able to address topics with the warmth, levity and lightness of touch that we do with our print magazines,” said Tom Edwards, Monocle’s executive producer. “We’re also finding it’s a great way for people to discover the brand online.”

Rolex, UBS, GE, Korean Air, Pictet, Lexus and Krug are among Monocle’s biggest advertisers, and some are heavily involved in its audio programming. With custom ad products like Monocle’s “program exclusive sponsorships,” brands collaborate with editors on show themes.As such, the line between advertising and editorial can get blurry. “The Bulletin with UBS,” for example, has solely used UBS staffers as guests on the show. No other investment banks have been heard from so far. But Monocle argues it doesn’t necessarily exclude people from its sponsored shows.

With a community of creators uncomfortable with the value of virality, an audience content to watch grainy dashcam videos, and platforms that discourage sharing, is a hit-machine for audio possible? And is it something anyone even wants?

Hifi audio is the hot new trend among streaming services and digital audio stores, with companies racing to get ahold of the market.

Aspiro’s hifi streaming services, Tidal and Wimp, caught Jay-Z’s attention. He’s buying the company for $56 million, even though only 8 percent of Aspiro’s users are paying for high quality streaming tiers.

Just last week, Tidal announced that they’re expanding to 22 new countries this quarter, bringing them to a total of 30 countries.

Digital radio is not so much about platforms anymore but rather about offering a simple and attractive listening experience to audiences. Often, the digital radio experience in cars is too complicated compared to newer applications and services. For digital radio to work and maintain its attractiveness, it must be seamless and automatically select the best way to receive services (i.e. service following). Frank Nowack, Ford’s Function Owner for Broadcast Media and Reception, noted in his keynote speech on the topic that the car industry (Ford) is dedicated to going forward with digital radio, but more coverage of European roads must be achieved to do so. He recommended that broadcasters pay attention to send correct information for service linking and information. There is no doubt that connected cars are coming but, streamed radio in cars won’t replace broadcast radio.

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The development of interactivity and personalisation in radio also seems inevitable. To achieve this, BBC has worked within the EBU framework to help create a Cross Platform Authentication Standard which allows user devices to pair with apps and avoids one having complicated logins on every device and for every station. This is just the start.

The day ended with a panel discussion: Do we need radio in smartphones? The conclusion was that yes, there is a need but it must be interactive, attractive and offer possibilities to mix linear and on-demand content. All of the current effort and initiatives lean toward the integration of hybrid radio into smartphone. Mobile operators and manufacturers will have to find interest in this for the process to succeed.

Despite slow audience and revenue growth, a handful of newspapers are optimistic about the future of Internet radio.

As Internet radio and podcasting have become more prominent in recent years, a number of local newspapers — from small community chains like Hersam Acorn, which owns 18 local papers, to metro dailies like The Boston Herald — have launched online radio stations.

Thanks to reporter David Hall for this look at the future of radio. Newspapers and other media outlets are turning to Internet Radio to keep advertising revenues up and to encourage local communities to be more involved in reporting news and in joining in on community service events. The reverse is also holding true. Many radio stations are streaming their programming, gaining audiences far beyond their locales. When I left Pacific Radio Group (Hawaii Island) in 2011, the group's 4 radio stations were generating a good portion of their revenue with digital sales on our streaming audio services. It wasn't unusual for an on-air news story (I was the news department) to get comment via the Internet from places such as California, Michigan, Nevada, and Oregon, where many former Hawaii residents now live. They all wanted a taste of home on their radio, most of it provided by streaming our programs on the Internet. Aloha de Russ (KH6JRM).

What happens to sharing when you break the most remarkable 30 seconds out of a 10-minute audio piece?

By now you’ve likely come across Digg’sterrific piece on viral audio. And if you haven’t ventured beyond the headline, it’s worth a read. The piece picks apart this question: How come audio never goes viral?

That’s a question we’ve been exploring over the past year here at NPR Digital Services. We set out to solve the viral audio challenge and we’ve discovered a few things worth adding to the conversation

When we began this experiment, we focused on five questions to measure the success of each story: Did people share it? Did people comment on it? Did visitors click play on the audio? Was it a popular story on the station’s site? Did it attract a social audience? That’s how we determined whether or not these audio packages were effective

What can we conclude?

As you can see, all of these experiments tackle the obstacles we outlined above, making the sound discoverable, portable, and simple to listen to. And although we aren’t ready to draw concrete conclusions based on this series of tests, we’re intrigued. People clicked on these headlines, came from social media, shared the posts, and listened to the audio at high rates.

These experiments are just the start. We will continue to examine how audio can work better on the social web. We also plan to expand this project to include other audio formats, such as news stories, analysis, audio, and shows. As we do, we’ll be sure to share ideas, challenges, and discoveries.

Everyone wants to know about "the future of radio"? But what if that's the wrong question?

Consumers simply want what they want when and how they want it.

So if asking about the future of radio is the wrong question, what’s the right one?

Not “the future of distribution,” surely, since that’s guaranteed to deepen and broaden thanks to ever-new technologies. Who would have imagined a decade ago that entire seasons of premium quality TV series could be launched on a platform that existed on no TV network, no cable channel, no local affiliate, and no traditional syndication platform? But that’s what Netflix has done.

I could ask “what’s the future of content?” But isn’t it obvious? That future couldn’t glow brighter.

Perhaps the most right questions of all:

“What business am I really in? How can I create value for my consumers and my clients in a market with endless choices? What will make my brand matter most?”

Let’s ask those.

It’s not about the “future of radio.” It’s about the future of your media brand.

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